Amazon Is Too Basic For Its Fashion Ambitions

It’s no secret that Amazon.com Inc. has been bitten by the fashion bug. The e-commerce juggernaut has shown it’s serious about becoming an apparel destination. Its site features a mushrooming collection of private-label clothing brands. It recently debuted Prime Wardrobe, a service that lets shoppers try on clothes at home before buying them. Even glossy magazines now feature ads for Amazon Fashion. But Amazon has some hurdles to clear if it wants to become a bigger player in apparel. L2, a research firm that studies brands’ digital performance, recently analyzed the kind of clothing that makes Amazon’s Best Seller list. A clear pattern emerged for both men’s and women’s brands. On both lists, most of the brands trade in commodity-type apparel. A six-pack of undershirts or an eight-pack of panties from Hanes isn’t something you buy as a fun treat or a gift — it’s something you buy because your old ones got ratty. The same goes for gym clothes from the likes of Champion and Russell Athletic, or undergarments from Fruit of the Loom and sub-$20 leggings from 90 Degree by Reflex. In other words, Amazon is doing a good job of selling clothes. But it’s not doing a good job of selling fashion. Read more at Bloomberg.